A late-night online gaming session turned violent when police say masked robbers attacked a man inside his home — and officials say the game could be key to finding the robbers.

The victim was at his home, near 2300 South and 1700 East, playing computer games online with friends when an unknown number of people kicked in the man’s front door just after 1 a.m., Salt Lake City police said.

As the man was being attacked, a friend heard the commotion through the microphone the man was using to talk to others in the game. He decided to drive to the victim’s home, police said. The friend saw several people leaving the victim’s home and told officials he recognized one of the robbers as he took off his mask. The robbers took electronic items from the home and left in the victim’s car, according to police.

Police had not arrested any suspects as of Thursday, but they had recovered the car, said Lt. Melody Gray.